■ Diplomacy
Saca promises support
Salvadoran President Tony Saca yesterday pledged to support Taiwan's campaign to join the UN and other international organizations despite opposition from China. Taiwan welcomed Saca with a 21-gun salute as the former sportscaster and media magnate made his first visit since taking office in June. Saca told President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) that El Salvador would continue to support Taiwan's UN bid. "We have always advocated the right of Taiwan to be represented at the United Nations and in more multilateral organizations, and this shows the close cooperation which exists between our countries," Saca said. Taiwan and El Salvador are "geographically far apart, but we hold the same intentions of democracy and freedom for our peoples," he said.
■ Human Rights
Groups protest to IOC
Allegations that Taiwan's freedom of speech is being muffled by China at the Athens airport sparked a complaint to Olympics officials by two European human rights groups on Tuesday. Olympic Watch chairman Jan Ruml said the groups are "extremely concerned" that China's pressure may have prompted airport officials to block or remove Taiwan's promotional posters and billboards. Rogge was asked to publicly denounce attacks on free speech and protect Taiwan's rights. The groups also asked the IOC "to take this stand right through to the end of the 2008 Olympic Games" which are scheduled for Beijing.
■ Arms Purchase
Budget to be reduced
The defense ministry aims to slash about 16 percent off the budget for the planned NT$610 billion (US$18.2 billion) arms purchase from the US after lawmakers said the controversial package was too expensive, Minister of National Defense Lee Jye (李傑) said yesterday. The ministry proposes scrapping a project to transfer technology on submarine construction, which would have cost nearly NT$73 billion, Lee told reporters. About NT$20 billion was expected to be cut from other areas, he said, without giving details. Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) meanwhile asked the US to lower the price of the arms package.
■ Defense
Armed forces stage drill
Taiwan's armed forces staged a drill simulating an invasion by China yesterday, as a military computer exercise showed that Taiwanese troops could withstand a similar onslaught for just six days. The scenario of the maneuver, the first of two rehearsals for a major exercise to be held on Aug. 25, was that Taiwanese troops had failed to hold off an amphibious landing by Chinese forces, TVBS cable television showed. As Taiwan's troops tried to stop simulated Chinese forces from pushing further inland, a fleet of US-made Cobra and OH-58D Scout gunships fired laser-guided Hellfire missiles while howitzers and tanks fired on targets.
■ Diplomacy
Macau director returns
The director of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Center in Macau will return to Taiwan on Aug. 16 to be transferred to the Mainland Affairs Council. His Macau post will be temporarily filled by his deputy, Lin Cheng-kuei. Tsai Chi-chung (蔡之中), who arrived in Macau in April 2001, said that his work over the past three years has been easy, due to the support of many friends in the former Portuguese colony, although there is still room for development.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
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